'She does her job and I do mine. Sometimes we see it a little differently.'

In tennis and marriage, husband-and-wife umpires respect the rules of the game

March 24, 2009|By Harvey Fialkov Staff Writer

While most tennis linespeople feel the pressure of being corrected by the overhead video scoreboard, Norm Chryst has a much higher authority to answer to.

Chryst, one of just three full-time salaried chair umpires used by the ATP for tournaments around the world, has had the delicate task of overruling his wife, Palma, one of the most respected line umpires on either pro circuit.

The couple downplays this rarely played-out scenario when a husband can correct a wife and she isn't even allowed to respond - at least while on the court.

"I have overruled her and haven't heard one word," said Norm Chryst, 62, who along with Palma will be working the most important matches at the Sony Ericsson Open during the next 12 days.

"She does her job and I do mine. Sometimes we see it a little differently."

Palma, a freelancer for the ATP, WTA and ITF, said she has no problems being second-guessed by the Hawk-Eye technology or her husband.

"Those of us who do this all the time are unfazed by that," said Palma, a professional umpire for 15 years. "The best officials don't make mistakes, so they're more annoyed at themselves if they made one and don't care who overruled them, whether it's [highly regarded chair umpire] Steve Ulrich or Norm Chryst."

Love may mean nothing in tennis, but to the Chrysts, the sport has given them a second chance at happiness after going through divorces.

They travel the globe about 25-30 weeks a year and coordinate their schedules so they're working the same ATP events. They've been in South Florida the past month, working the Delray Beach International Championships and last week's BMW Championship in Sunrise. They've worked more than 45 Grand Slams together, but Norm has never presided at the French Open.

"I'm not a big dirt guy," said Norm, who grew up in the San Francisco area playing junior and college tennis. "It's sort of an art and we don't do it enough in the States to become really good at it."

The salary range for professional umpires is about $30,000 to $75,000, based on experience, workload and prowess. Not only are their eyes constantly checked, but so is their accuracy.

They're ranked by the color of their badges, with lowest to highest rank going from white, bronze and silver to gold.

"Almost everyone who does this loves the sport," said gold badge chief umpire Palma, a 4.5-rated recreational player who once coached her children's high school teams in Woodbury, Conn. "I love the sound of the ball hitting on grass at Wimbledon."

Tennis umpires must follow a strict code of conduct and must learn the rulebooks of both tours as well as the ITF. They are given oral and written exams over an intense five-day period at umpiring schools.

They work in shifts, usually about an hour and 15 minutes on and 40 minutes off at Key Biscayne. The best umpires call the service line and Palma admits the men's faster serves and "Andre Agassi's forehand" are tougher to call than their female counterparts.

Linespeople are not allowed to talk back to confrontational players, but players rarely mess with Norm Chryst, a former infantry platoon leader in Vietnam who had his leg "blown up."

"I cut my teeth on [John] McEnroe when he was coming down, so he never screamed at me a lot," Norm Chryst said, laughing. "I've only defaulted one player in my career and that was Yevgeny Kafelnikov. He said something to me he shouldn't in English in Hamburg, and he knew what the repercussions would be."

Even if Kafelnikov had cursed Chryst in Russian, he would've understood it because the international umpires have exchanged lists of obscenities for such occasions.

Chryst puts up with guff from whiny players, coaches and overzealous parents because he realizes the gifts that tennis has provided, including his favorite linesperson.

"My joy is trying to make it an equal playing field for both players," said Norm, who was ranked 13th nationally in the 40s division. "Tennis has given me a lot through the years as a player and competitor. I'm hooked and this is my way of giving back."

But who really makes the decisions when the couple returns to its Bluffton, S.C., home?

"We're a partnership," said Palma. "We make all decisions together."

Sony Ericsson Open

Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams are the top seeds for the Key Biscayne tournament. Page 2